Brandon DonnellyCanada must become a global superpower
The silver lining to the US starting a trade war with Canada and regularly threatening annexation is that it has forced this country out of complacency. Indeed, I'm hard pressed to remember a time, at least in my lifetime, when patriotism and nationalism has united so much of Canada. According to a recent survey by Angus Reid, the percentage of Canadians expressing a "deep emotional attachment" to the country jumped from 49% in December 2024 to 59% in February 2025. And as further evidence of...
Brandon DonnellyThe bank robbery capital of the world
Between 1985 and 1995, Los Angeles' retail bank branches were robbed some 17,106 times. In 1992, which was the the city's worst year for robberies, the number was 2,641. This roughly translated into about one bank robbery every 45 minutes of each banking day. All of this, according to this CrimeReads piece by Peter Houlahan, gave Los Angeles the dubious title of "The Bank Robbery Capital of the World" during this time period. So what caused this? Well according to Peter it was facil...
Brandon DonnellyThe story behind those pixelated video game mosaics in Paris
If you've ever been to Paris, you've probably noticed the small pixelated art pieces that are scattered all around the city on buildings and various other hard surfaces. Or maybe you haven't seen or noticed them in Paris, but you've seen similarly pixelated mosaics in one of the other 79 cities around the world where they can be found. Or maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. Huh? Here's an example from Bolivia (click here if you can't see...
Subscribe to Brandon Donnelly
Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly.
Subscribe to Brandon Donnelly
Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly.
Brandon DonnellyCanada must become a global superpower
The silver lining to the US starting a trade war with Canada and regularly threatening annexation is that it has forced this country out of complacency. Indeed, I'm hard pressed to remember a time, at least in my lifetime, when patriotism and nationalism has united so much of Canada. According to a recent survey by Angus Reid, the percentage of Canadians expressing a "deep emotional attachment" to the country jumped from 49% in December 2024 to 59% in February 2025. And as further evidence of...
Brandon DonnellyThe bank robbery capital of the world
Between 1985 and 1995, Los Angeles' retail bank branches were robbed some 17,106 times. In 1992, which was the the city's worst year for robberies, the number was 2,641. This roughly translated into about one bank robbery every 45 minutes of each banking day. All of this, according to this CrimeReads piece by Peter Houlahan, gave Los Angeles the dubious title of "The Bank Robbery Capital of the World" during this time period. So what caused this? Well according to Peter it was facil...
Brandon DonnellyThe story behind those pixelated video game mosaics in Paris
If you've ever been to Paris, you've probably noticed the small pixelated art pieces that are scattered all around the city on buildings and various other hard surfaces. Or maybe you haven't seen or noticed them in Paris, but you've seen similarly pixelated mosaics in one of the other 79 cities around the world where they can be found. Or maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. Huh? Here's an example from Bolivia (click here if you can't see...
>4.2K subscribers
>4.2K subscribers
Support Brandon Donnelly
Brandon DonnellyRivian spinoff Also introduces flagship e-bike
Support Brandon Donnelly
Brandon DonnellyRivian spinoff Also introduces flagship e-bike
Rivian makes electric vehicles designed for adventure. But in addition to this (I'm deliberately avoiding the word also), they've just spun out another company called Also, which makes e-bikes, quads, and other mobility products. This month, they revealed their new flagship product called the TM-B (transcendent mobile - bike). If you can't see the embedded video above, click here.
I'm not sure how big the market will be for a US$4,500 e-bike, at least in the short term, but the tech seems pretty awesome. And I think the bigger deal here is that this is now a well-funded company focused on "form factors that are all sub-car." Rivian is a car company, but they recognize that to really drive sustainability into our transportation networks, we need to also think beyond the car.
Cover photo: Also
Rivian makes electric vehicles designed for adventure. But in addition to this (I'm deliberately avoiding the word also), they've just spun out another company called Also, which makes e-bikes, quads, and other mobility products. This month, they revealed their new flagship product called the TM-B (transcendent mobile - bike). If you can't see the embedded video above, click here.
I'm not sure how big the market will be for a US$4,500 e-bike, at least in the short term, but the tech seems pretty awesome. And I think the bigger deal here is that this is now a well-funded company focused on "form factors that are all sub-car." Rivian is a car company, but they recognize that to really drive sustainability into our transportation networks, we need to also think beyond the car.
Cover photo: Also
Share Dialog
Share Dialog
I find it mildly amusing that to "drive sustainaibility" into the bicycle market, they propose a product that is inherently less sustainable than a regular bicycle. It's a cool product to be sure, but let's not get carried away by the self-deceiving marketing and see how it does in the marketplace. That is the ultimate test for this product. If it succeeds, I will eat my words, if it flops, it'll prove that it was a product that no one asked for.
1 comment
I find it mildly amusing that to "drive sustainaibility" into the bicycle market, they propose a product that is inherently less sustainable than a regular bicycle. It's a cool product to be sure, but let's not get carried away by the self-deceiving marketing and see how it does in the marketplace. That is the ultimate test for this product. If it succeeds, I will eat my words, if it flops, it'll prove that it was a product that no one asked for.